Early the next morning Daphne found herself gently roused from her slumber. Groggily sitting up wiping sleep from her eyes she finally notices potter. Her memory was still a bit fuzzy from the night before.

"Oi, Daphne showers free if you want. Breakfast will be brought up soon. I'll be at the table if you need anything."

"Don't you know a woman needs her beauty sleep potter?" Daphne muttered as she headed for the shower anyway.

"Yea, you and me both princess. Unfortunately, we're a bit short on time." Harry replied walking to the table.

As Daphne entered the bathroom, she relished in the warm air that still lingered. She noticed the clothes Harry had left for her but was more concerned with taking a hot shower. Quickly stripping she lets the remains of her school uniform fall to the ground. She took off potter's jacket and neatly folded it and set it on the counter. Stepping into the hot spray she let out a sigh of relief. The hot water doing wonders to helping her body relax. Amidst her enjoyment of a nice hot shower Daphne can't help but reminisce the past week in her mind. Starting with her encounter with potter in the library.

The first few days following she was set to give potter a piece of her mind. How dare he speak to a woman such as herself in such a manner. Quickly she realized that potter wasn't showing up to meals nor classes. She knew nothing about him, so she didn't know where to look outside of class. She noted he also didn't seem to be around anybody, especially his two guard dogs. This piqued her interest. It made her curious about what 'Gryffindor's Golden Boy' was getting up to all by himself. clearly there was more to him the meets the eye.

Then came the day of the first task. Daphne had no plans to actually watch the task. She would simply wait at the entrance to the castle and confront potter directly. She figured the champions would either be the first or last to leave depending on injuries and such. Either way potter had no means of escaping her. So in her thoughts and the answers she'd pry from the young potter that she almost missed him walking into the castle past her little hiding spot. Quickly and quietly, she took off after him following him the infirmary. From the infirmary she followed him to the Gryffindor common room, then down the unused classroom where she simply waited to try to decide what to do. Daphne had no idea what caused her hesitation. At any point she could have made her presence known and gotten her answers, yet she didn't and she had no clue why.

(Slight TW, just to be safe, talk of TW from last chap)

Her mind then drifted to the happenings of that night. Her thoughts and body flooded with the fear, dread, and revulsion she felt that night. The reality of what happened and what almost happened had finally hit home. Daphne crumpled in the shower silently sobbing. As if her mind was torturing her, she could still feel his hands on her body. Her revulsion skyrocketed. Frantically she went for the soap and began scrubbing furiously as if trying was his touch from her body as well as her mind. By now she was screaming and crying. No matter how hard she scrubbed, no matter how much soap she used she couldn't get rid of the feeling of his hands still touching her. With a scream she threw the soap.

"WHY WON'T IT COME OFF!?"

Daphne began clawing at her arms and chest as if trying to tear the 'tainted skin' from her body. Of course, her scream alerted Harry and he immediately made for the bathroom.

Cracking the door partly open he called out to her.

"Daphne!" No response. All he could hear was the water and Daphne mumbling to herself. Harry quickly pieced together what happened. He wanted to help her; he knew better than most how your mind could be your own worst enemy especially after something so traumatic. His first three years at school were prefect examples. He had to reach her though to break through the living nightmare her brain was forcing her to experience.

"DAPHNE!"

Hearing her name called caused her to stop and pause. She knew that voice. It was the same voice that had saved her that night.

"Potter?" she called softly, just loud enough to be heard over the water.

"Daphne listen to me, listen to my voice. Focus on my voice-" Before he could continue, she interrupted him.

"It won't come off. I can't get it off. No matter how hard I scrub it, it won't come off." she wailed fresh tears streaking her flushed cheeks.

"Listen to me Daphne. Focus on my voice and listen. Take a deep breath. Relax. Listen to my voice. You're safe now. Relax."

For some reason Daphne found herself complying. She took a deep breath and felt her body relax. She focused solely on his voice. His voice was so calm and sure. She felt herself take another deep breath, then another and another. Her body was relaxing. When she heard the water turn off, she looked up to an odd sight. It was potter. He had taken his shirt off and tied it around his face as a makeshift blindfold. He then entered the bathroom turned the water off and held out a towel for her.

"You're safe now. I'm here for you. Relax you're safe now." He repeated. His voice was calm and soothing like some sort of lullaby. She shakily stood up and stepped into the towel he held up with open arms. When Harry felt her step into the towel he slowly and carefully wrapped his arms and the towel around her. Daphne took the towel from his hands and secured it around her body. She then wrapped her arms around Harry in a firm hug.

"Thank you" she whispered.

Harry merely held her offering every ounce of comfort she needed. When she let go, he turned to leave the bathroom so she could dress. Before he made it out the door a wet towel was draped over his head, and he was playfully pushed out of the room. Hearing the door close behind him his took the towel and his shirt off his head. Daphne quickly dressed in the clothes potter had given her. She left her shirt and bra on the floor as they were in tatters. She had questions about the clothes he left her. The shirt had a picture on it, and it said Led Zeppelin in bold lettering. Daphne had no idea what a led zeppelin was, but she figured she could ask another time the shirt fit well enough, so she wasn't too concerned. The pants he had left were simply grey baggy sweatpants. Daphne had never worn something so comfortable and would definitely be asking for where he got these.

Exiting the bathroom, she saw potter sitting at the table looking at her with genuine concern on his face. Slightly flustered he had seen her in such a vulnerable state yet still grateful for his help she wasn't as harsh as she normally would've been.

"What potter, want a picture or something." she said.

Harry understanding that she was in an odd situation let her be. He figured she wasn't used to showing vulnerability to anyone.

"Nah maybe some other time though. Just making sure you're ok. If you ready, we can go get some breakfast then head back to the bank." he told her with a soft smile on his face.

His comment about maybe wanting a picture some other time had thrown Daphne for a loop and with a small blush forming on her face she scowled and turned away from him.

"Yes, breakfast would be a good start." she told him haughtily. Harry merely smiled more because there was no real weight behind her tone, it was simply for show.

After they had eaten the duo had found themselves back in Goldaxe's office. Daphne was surprised upon entering, she had never seen such a goblin before. Goldaxe was absolutely massive by goblin standards. Average goblins were about three and half feet tall, but Goldaxe looked like he was pushing four and some change. That wasn't even accounting for all his battle scars and the big menacing golden axe hanging behind his desk.

Harry sat down in front of the desk with a bit of a heavy sigh. Daphne followed suit much more sedately. Goldaxe merely stared between the two waiting for one to speak up. It unnerved Daphne a great deal.

"You done Goldaxe? We do have shit to do today."

"Indeed Mr. Potter. How may I be of service?"

"Cut the crap Goldaxe, I don't have time for your 'business attitude' I need a portkey back to the school for Daphne here."

Daphne for her part was horrified at how potter was talking to the goblin. Not just because of this particular goblin's size either but from her knowledge potter would be lucky to leave without all sorts of issues for the disrespect he gave the goblin. She also thought that because she was technically here with potter it would reflect badly on her. But unfortunately for her the surprises wouldn't end there.

"Is that so Mr. Potter. And how exactly do you think you'll get such a thing?" Goldaxe grinned viciously knowingly scaring Daphne more.

"Goldaxe I swear to god that if you don't cut the shit I will personally kick your ass up and down your training room, again." Harry replied with a roll of his eyes.

Daphne sank further against her seat in fear of what the goblin would do to potter and by proxy her.

"Goldaxe, the portkey please. I don't have time for this. Scare Daphne all you want another time. I need to get her back to school so I can leave."

For the first time Daphne spoke up. "What do you mean 'get me back to school so you can leave'? Aren't you coming with me?" she asked slightly bewildered

"No Daphne I'm not going with you. Nothing against you but I'm never going back to that school ever again."

"Why not?" she asked this time with a bit of heat in her voice.

"I'm not going back because that school is a fucking deathtrap. Ever since I stepped foot onto the grounds, I've almost died more times than I care to count. I'm only alive still due to luck. Did you see the first task?" Harry asked. The abrupt change in topics confused Daphne, what did the first task have to do with anything?

"No, I didn't I was a bit preoccupied with other things."

"Goldaxe show her the memory yeah?" Harry asked

Daphne was confused as they entered the memory. She quickly realized it was front the first task. For the next 45 minutes Daphne watched in horror and awe as Potter battled against an Elder Horntail as if he was a dragon himself. Upon exiting Daphne rushed to hug potter to make sure he was ok. Looking up at his face one hand crept its way to the side of his face. As if she were afraid he'd disappear if she touched him. Harry merely looked confused at her reaction though it was tinged with slight amusement. Then he realized how close they were. Harry got a real good look at her face. The first thing he noticed were her eyes. One was a fierce icy blue that seemed to glow with the power of winter itself. The other a deep golden amber that burned like a defiant ember of a dying fire. Harry was absolutely taken, he thought she had the most gorgeous eyes he had ever seen. Of course, before he could truly realize the thought he just had let alone voice anything Daphne then remembered where she was and who exactly she was hugging.

Taking a step back with a small cough she looked over Potter with a critical eye, noticing many things she didn't before. The first being he was taller than her by a whole head. The next was his clothing, she had never seen something so scandalous. He was wearing only a vest that showed off his toned chest, arms and abs. He was also wearing sweats like her own. She was loathe to admit it to herself but for a brute he was fairly handsome. Then she noticed the Lichtenberg scars on his arms. They obviously came from the dragon. She also noticed the bandage on his shoulder and the spine hanging from the leather cord around his neck. Taking all this in she spoke.

"I must say Potter, I still think you're a brute but maybe you're not as bad as I previous thought." she looked away with a small scowl at the blush showing on her face. Harry was very amused by this reaction. He couldn't help but think she looked cute like that.

"I'm sure that's as close to a compliment I'll ever get. But back to your question. As you saw I was forced to fight a dragon and it was the last straw. It was pure luck my runes held. It was luck that anything went the way it did that day. But I refuse to live like that anymore. Being thrown into deadly situations left, right and center and barely surviving by the skin of my teeth. I'm tired of it, of everything. I just want to live my life in a way that doesn't involve me fighting for my survival every other week." Harry explained.

"You said it was the last straw? What else has happened?"

Harry could sense nothing but pure curiosity from the girl next to him. With a sigh he asked Goldaxe for the pensieve and began dropping memories in.

"If you want to know what happened then you're free to watch but be warned it's not for the faint of heart. Not even Hermione or Ron remembers the true versions because I asked Madam Pomphrey to slightly alter their memories. I didn't want them to suffer with the true horrors of what happened."

Steeling her nerves Daphne entered the new memories. She watched as Professor Quirrell died, the back of his head missing. Blood and gore dripping as he fell against Harry. Harry caught the dying man on pure reflex even as he was covered in blood and brain matter as the man's body tore itself apart. Daphne watched as Harry fought the biggest basilisk she had ever heard of let alone seen. She gasped in horror as Harry stabbed the creature through its mouth with the sword of Gryffindor. She nearly recoiled at the sight of his arm after. The gaping hole left by the fang. The venom already eating away at the flesh leaving his arm looking like a werewolf mangled it. She watched in awe as Fawkes healed him. Daphne shuddered as the memory of the dementor horde played. Her heart almost stopped as she watched Harry almost lose his own soul to protect a man by rights he should hate. The patronus left her once again in awe.

When she exited the memories, she understood what he was talking about. She understood why he wanted to leave the school. Daphne turned to potter her face several shades paler than normal.

"Take me with you, please?"

Harry merely stared at her with a piercing look, almost as if he was gazing into her very soul.

"Are you sure?"

"All this happened on school grounds, during term yes?" she asked

"yes" was the simple reply.

"Then yes I'm sure. I never want to go back there again."

After several moment of silence, she spoke once more. "When do we leave?"

For some reason Harry couldn't explain that brought a small smile to his face. He was interested in her. She acted so haughty, for Christ's sake she called him a brute. Yet instead of being insulted her was only ever amused. Plus, her eyes were absolutely breath taking.

"Well first things first, we need to get you a trunk and some clothes. Then we need to buy you a plane ticket." Harry answered.